World-class Speakers to Headline Global Urban Air Summit

Farnborough International confirms that NASA’s Bob Pearce, Deputy Associate Administrator for Aeronautics Research, will speak at the Global Urban Air Summit, taking place on September 3 – 4 at the Farnborough International Exhibition and Conference Centre.

Mr Pearce joins participants from Uber, Airbus and Thales for this landmark event which brings together innovators and regulators for the first time to determine how fast–emerging technology is to create a generational shift in air travel.

Speaking about the Global Urban Air Summit, François Sillion, Uber's Director of Advanced Technologies Centre in Paris, said: “Uber’s mission is to ignite opportunity by helping the world move. In the ten years since Uber’s launch, we’ve transformed how cities, freight and food travel, and now we’re looking toward the skies. We are excited to be joining other industry leaders at this summit and helping shape the conversation on the future of on-demand aerial ridesharing."

Other speakers include Gwen Lighter, CEO and founder of GoFly. Gwen leads a team of more than 3,500 innovators from over 100 countries creating a multitude of personal flying devices, with support from Boeing, Pratt & Whitney, and in excess of 20 aerospace partners. Gwen says: “There has been incredible investment and interest in the burgeoning urban mobility industry, and we are excited to be at the heart of it”.

“The future of transportation will be aerial, and in the next few years we will start to see new technology being put to the test in building the next generation of mobility devices.”

More speakers are to be announced in the coming weeks. Exhibitors include, among others, Vertical Aerospace, Atkins (SNC Lavalin), Arup Group, innovative architectural firm SMALL (Six Miles Across London), and Aerospace Embedded Solutions.

The UK’s Department for Transport and Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy are event partners. Aviation Minister, Liz Sugg, said about the upcoming event: “I look forward to seeing the outcome of this Summit. The UK is a global leader in aviation innovation and developing new forms of transport - from urban air mobility vehicles to small electric aircraft and drones.

“Through the Future of Mobility Grand Challenge and Aviation 2050, we are exploring how new technologies will change how we travel and how to safely tap into future opportunities for the UK’s aerospace industry.”

Team Defence Information is also an event partner and presence from NATS will provide valuable insight on the realities of operating new forms of passenger, military, cargo and medical air transport

Simon Ford, Farnborough International’s Assistant Director of Aerospace Events says: “To host organisations including NASA, Uber and Airbus on the same platform as two Government departments and regulatory authorities will make the Global Urban Air Summit unmissable. This event is to determine the future of flight, it will make history and there can be no more appropriate location to host it than Farnborough – the birthplace of aviation.”